In last post, I berated the researchers for only using 400 IU of vitamin D as an amount to study.  My reasoning was your body can make this amount in only a couple of minutes in the midday summer sun.  However, the reason this amount has been used; it is the amount required for a baby to not get rickets.  Think about a ten pound baby needing 400 IU or about 40 IU per pound of  body weight per day.  Since vitamin D is used throughout the body then the more your body weight the more you need.  Ratio of body weight to the amount required should be carried out as the baby increases with weight.

I just rechecked the amount suggested by the governments NIH dietary fact sheet.   This states that an infant 0-1 year old should get 400 IU per day for health.  It then says that a lactating mother needs only 600 IU per day.  So I guess they think that the mother can pass on 400 IU per day if she gets 600 IU?  The idiots!  Where is Dr. House when you need him?  If we follow the rule of thumb, then a one hundred twenty five pound mother should be getting – 125 lb x 40 IU = 5000 IU per day of D3.  At this level the mother may be able to pass along close to the requirement of the baby at 400 IU per day.  Actually Dr. Bruce Hollis actually states that a lactating mother should be getting at least 6400 IU to assure that the baby gets the required 400 IU.

The NIH guidelines are made up out of the minds of the IOM Food and Nutrition Board.  The tolerable upper limits for a baby is 1000 IU per day until six months and for the next six months the upper limit is 1500 IU per day.  If we follow our rule of thumb, then the tolerable upper limit for a lactating mother would then be 12500 IU per day. This seems right to me.  However, the guidelines state that the tolerable upper limit is 4000IU per day.  This number is used for anyone over nine years old.  It is like the government thinks when we hit nine, our body does not use anymore vitamin D with increased size – WOW!  I think the researcher’s brains just stopped growing when they reached nine.

My daughter consistently took 7500 IU of D3 per day during lactation.  She took five thousand IU’s one day and the next she would take 10,000 IU.  The baby thrived.  When she weaned the baby, she did not check to be sure the baby was getting vitamin D.  The baby started to have colds.  After two trips to the doctor, I convinced her to give the child supplements to assure the baby was getting between 400 to 1000 IU per day.  When that happened the child got well and once again thrived.  To accomplish this, she used vitamin D drops and put it in whatever liquid the child was consuming.

Always be sure that your baby is getting at least 400 IU per day throughout the first year of life.  Or better, be sure the baby gets at least 40 IU per pound of body weight per day throughout its life.  – pandemic survivor